1. Field of the Invention
An embodiment of the present invention relates to a rechargeable battery, more particularly.
2. Description of the Related Art
Prismatic rechargeable batteries for hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) have a heat dissipation efficiency superior to cylindrical rechargeable batteries, and have improved safety over the cylindrical rechargeable batteries when overcharged.
Therefore, current interrupt devices (CIDs), which interrupt currents when the batteries are overcharged, are not applied to the prismatic rechargeable batteries for HEV.
However, plug in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and electric vehicles as well as HEV demand high-capacity rechargeable batteries, such that the sizes of the batteries increase.
As such, the prismatic rechargeable batteries become thicker, and their heat dissipation efficiencies are different depending on whether the batteries are at the inside portion or at the outside portion of the battery system. Therefore, it is difficult to secure the safety of these batteries of the power system when they are being overcharged.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the present invention, and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.